Washington should spend Iran's frozen billions on satellite internet for its people
Key takeaways
- President Trump has signaled that these assets will move only upon a finalized agreement.
- An estimated $100 billion in Iranian assets immobilized abroad are not the private treasury of a ruling clique.
- When the Afghan Republic collapsed in 2021, the United States froze approximately $7 billion in central bank reserves.
Why this matters: political developments that affect policy direction and public trust.
President Trump has signaled that these assets will move only upon a finalized agreement. The debate has fixed on whether and when to hand the money over. It has skipped the prior question — whose money it is, and what would actually serve them.
An estimated $100 billion in Iranian assets immobilized abroad are not the private treasury of a ruling clique. These reserves represent the accumulated product of a nation s oil, commerce and labor. International law recognizes the Islamic Republic as a sovereign representative. However, a regime that governs by domestic terror and exports regional instability is a usurper of the national patrimony, not its legitimate steward. Returning this capital as a reward for aggression represents a profound misallocation of assets. This choice ratifies the regime s most audacious fiction: that the Iranian people and their jailers share identical interests.
Washington has recently rejected this fiction. When the Afghan Republic collapsed in 2021, the United States froze approximately $7 billion in central bank reserves. Rather than surrendering these assets to the Taliban or liquidating them for creditors, Washington established the Fund for the Afghan People. This Swiss-based trust insulated $3.5 billion for the population. It successfully denied the sanctioned regime a single dollar. When 9/11 creditors attempted to seize these reserves, federal courts intervened. The judiciary refused to treat central bank assets as Taliban property available to satisfy judgments.